Nursery race begins, no clarity on rules

NURSERY ADMISSIONS Unaware the govt has put admissions to 298 private unaided schools on hold, parents lined up outside campuses only to return emptyhanded

NEWDELHI:The nursery admission process in the national capital kicked- off amid confusion. Unaware of the different eligibility criteria for sought-after schools, parents lined up outside campuses early on Monday morning.

The Delhi government has put admissions to 298 private unaided schools built on land given by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on hold. The government wants that the admission to these schools should be based on neighbourhood — the distance between an applicant’s home and the school. The guidelines for the same are awaited.

“I read in the papers that many schoolswillhaveadifferentadmission criterion. But I have no clue which schools are these,” said Praveen Lohia, a resident of Ghitorni, who came to enquire about the process at Delhi Public School insouthDelhi’sVasantKunj—one of the schools built on DDA land.

Lohia took the day off to collect forms from as many schools as possible. “For my elder son, I had applied to 20 schools but he did not get through any. This time, I can’t afford to take any chances. I expect things to get more chaotic with so many rules,” he said.

Sunil Jain, a resident of Indraprastha Extension in east Delhi turned up at Ahlcon International School in Mayur Vihar only to return without an application form or any information about it.

“After reaching here, I was told that the school has not started the process. I wonder why the admission rules keep changing every year,” he said. The school staff said many parents visited on Monday but they are still waiting for further directions from the government.

“We send them back asking them to check the admission details online. Till a government order comes, we have to wait,” said an official at Amity International School in Saket.

The remaining 1,400 private schools in the city can fix their own parameters for admissions.

However, even though most of these 1,400 schools have an online application process, parents reached schools early on Monday morning and moved from one school to the other.

The application process will continue till January 23 but parents are not taking any chances.

Several parents Hindustan Times spoke to on Monday said they checked the websites for information and the form but wanted to visit the school just to be sure about the process.

“I know the forms are online but I wanted to visit the school and check the criteria. My husband is an alumnus of the school so I hope my son gets admission here,” said Neha, a resident of Karol Bagh. She was at Bal Bharati School, Pusa Road in west Delhi.

For my elder son, I had applied to 20 schools but he did not get through any. This time, I can’t afford to take any chances. We send them (parents) back asking them to check the details online. Till a govt order comes, we have to wait.